What is a Release Train?

At Agile Strategic Solutions, we specialize in training individuals to be certified in Scrum Management. While we strongly believe that Scrum management can benefit your business, even outside of software development, we also offer training in the Scaled Agile Framework. Within the framework, we’ll teach you how to implement the release train to properly schedule and coordinate your program releases across your whole development team. The release train is one of the most important aspects of the SAFe method. Here is a brief overview of the release train and how it works.

The release train is essentially a team made up of multiple teams of program developers. The team is bound by a shared end goal and works together to combine their efforts to release a successful, and fully developed program. The release train works in short sprints, much like the Scrum process, to release a steady stream of products and programs. Many of these releases are complete components of a program that, when combined with earlier releases, form a more complete product.

How is the Release Train Organized?

Once established, the release train is then organized into several subteams:

Components: This team will focus on backlog products with a concentration on a specific component of the program set for development. This varies based on the current project.

Features: The features team focuses on developing a user-friendly interface for the current project and examines any challenges or changes that need to be made to fit with the expectations of the intended users.

Other: Depending on the project, the release train may include a team dedicated to working with programming language, location-specific elements, and business processes.

These teams can occur individually on a release train or can co-exist to provide the most complete project development and release schedule. If you’re looking to implement a more well-rounded and efficient program release schedule, consider implementing the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) method today. Register for our next class!